Hyder House ‘Friends’ will meet to discuss progress to date

Thursday

Jun 12, 2014 at 3:15 AM

By ANDREA BULFINCHabulfinch@fosters.com

DOVER — A second informational meeting hosted by Friends of Hyder Family Hospice House will be held June 30 to update the public on progress made by the group, the status of the facility’s operations, and to introduce the organization’s board of directors for the first time.

With a temporary transfer of operations becoming effective July 1 by Strafford County, the meeting will also allow people to learn more about how the nonprofit organization will lend support to the Hyder House and the county during this transition as well as in the future.

Hyder House staff will continue to care for patients at the 14-bed facility located on County Farm Road.

Parent company Amedysis recently released a statement with Senior Vice President John Wagner saying the company is “pleased we were able to work with the Strafford County Commissioner’s Office and find a solution so that Hyder Family Hospice House will be able to continue serving the needs of the community.”

County Commissioner Chairman George Maglaras said in the same statement released from Amedysis that commissioners had received many calls from local residents about a potential closure of the only in-patient hospice facility in the county, an announcement that came in late March.

“We received many calls from families whose loved ones were served by Hyder Family Hospice House and agree with our constituents’ assessment of the value of the services provided by the facility,” he said.

Heavy support from the community and those who have experienced services of Hyder House was immediate following the announcement the facility would be closed, among others, because of financial reasons and underperformance.

Despite some difficulty in keeping the facility’s beds occupied, the service Hyder Family Hospice House provides is priceless for the families and loved ones of those who spent their last days there.

Richard Butterfield previously told Foster’s he lost his mother about a year ago and shared that he was “blessed to have” the facility.

Elaine Case, who will step up as chairman of the Friends board of directors, said during the group’s first meeting in April that it was for her mother she would put her efforts into keeping the only in-patient hospice facility in Strafford County open.

She was able to spend the last days of her mother’s life at Hyder House receiving the very compassion so many have shared. May 1 marked the one-year anniversary of that experience. Her mother was 84 years old and died of multiple illnesses.

“It was the most peaceful moment watching her take her last breath,” she said. “It was just an amazing experience,” she said.

The June 30 meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in auditoriums B and C.